spencer



L. W. SPENCER. Line Throwing Gun.

Q /l/ A WITNESSES I J j INVENTUIZL/ mar W/ BY TORNEYS.

Patented June 22, I880.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS W. SPENCER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND THOMAS D.HARRISON, OF SAME PLACE.

LINE-THROWING GUN- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.229,058, dated June 22, 1880. Application filed November 1, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEWIS W. SPENCER, of thecity, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedGun and Projectile for Throwing Life- Saving Lines, of

g which the following is a specification.

the projectile.

The object of my invention is to obtain greater accuracy and a longerrange in throwing life-saving lines. 7

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinalsectional'elevation of my improved gun and projectile arranged forfiring. Fig. 2 represents a side View of my improved breech-blockforbreech-loading guns. Fig. 3 represents the breech-block open for thereception of the connection'between the life-line and Fig. 4' isacross-section of the gun, taken on line a) a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 5represents the improved projectile and its elastic tail. Fig. 6represents my improvements applied to a muzzle-loading gun.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

Referring to the drawings, A is a breechloading gun, mounted by means oftrunnions on a gun-carriage, B. In the breech a of the gun, back of thebarrel b, is an internally screw-threaded chamber, 0.

G is the breech-block, screw-threaded externally to adapt it to bescrewed into chamher 0. Breech-block C is divided longitudinally intotwo semi-cylindrical sections, 06, which, when put together to form theblock, are held together by dowel-pins fin section a enteringcorresponding holes in section 6. In each of sections 6 c, at thelongitudinal center, is a half-round groove, 0. When the sections areplaced together these grooves e form a breech-port, e, (see Fig. 1,)which coincides with the center of the bore of barrel 1). Around thefront end of this port e the breech-block is coned out to form a seat,h,

and at the rear end the breech-block is funline can be connecteddirectly with the projectile, and it is only necessary to put the twosections together and screw the breech-block into the gun, instead ofhaving to splice the line to the projectile after loading.

l) is the elongated projectile which I use with my gun To the butt 9' isattached one end of an elastic metal tail, it. Near the free end l ofthe elastic tail an ovoid valve, on, is fixed to said tail, which servesto close the inner end of the port 0'' in the breech. The tail is ismade of a material that can be coiled into a tight spiral withoutbreaking, and which will resist the action of the exploded gunpowder.

Underneath the gun is a plate, E, suspended by cars a from the trunnionsa of the gun. The forward end, 0, of plate E is turned up atrightangles, so as to bear against the under side of the barrel 1).Underneath the rear end of plate E is a curved arm, F, with a slot, p,through which is passed the end q of a set screw passed through the sideof the gumcarriage B. By means of plate E the muzzle of the gun is heldat any required height to obtain the proper range.

The manner of using the gun and projectile is as follows: Theprojectiles are prepared and kept in readiness for use by splicing theend I of the elastic tail k to the free end of the life-line l, which iscoiled in a box in the usual manner. The breech-block G is withdrawnfrom the ,gun and opened for the insertion of the line. The projectile Dis inserted into the barrel I) through the breech a, and the elastictail in is coiled into a close hollow spiral of the same diameter as theprojectile, and this hollow spiral is passed into the barrel behind theshot in the manner shown in Fig. 1. A I

bag of powder, r, is then inserted within the spiral formed by the tailis, the end I beyond valve m is laid in the channel (2, and, the twoparts of the breech-block being put together, said block is screwed intothe breech, and the valve m is drawn into the concave seat h, so as toclose the port 6' and prevent the backward escape of the gas.

When the gun is fired the shot passes straight out of the gun, theelastic tail k uncoils, and the life-line is drawn by the tail throughthe port e and barrel b behind the shot, which is thus enabled to keepstraight' 2 assess on its course without turning or reversing itsposition after leaving the gun, as is the case in the use of the commonmethod when the life-line is attached to the shot and passed intothe gunfrom the muzzle. The result of my improvement is, that a longer rangeand greater accuracy are obtained.

In Fig. 6 is shown a muzzle-loader. Herein the port 6' for the end ofthe elastic tail is made directly through the breech, and at the rearend is funneled out, the same as in the breech-block O. In thisconstruction it is, of course, impossible to splice the elastic tail andlife-line before loading. Consequently the end I of the tail is attachedto a needle, which is thrust through the barrel 0, and thence throughport 0, and the end 1 having been by this means drawn through thebreech, the said end is spliced to the life-line l and the valve m isdrawn down to its seat h.

In loading, the powder is first placed in the gun from the muzzle, thetail k is coiled, as before, and, having been inserted in the gun,

the shot is also placed in the muzzle and rammed home, and the gun isfired, as before.

It will be readily seen that by my improvement the projectile isdelivered from the gun without other retardation than that caused by theweight of the life-line, whereas by the ordinary method, when thelife-line is fired out of the gun ahead of the projectile, the Weight ofthe line compels the projectile to reverse or turn end for end, and theconsequence is a very great retardation of the projectiles speed,

The tail 7:, in addition to serving as an tic connection between theshot and the lifeline, serves also as a guide for holding the shot onits course, and thus materially increases the accuracy of the shooting.

By applying tail k to elongated projectiles I am enabled to use suchprojectiles with smooth-bore guns for all purposes, and to obtainthereby as great accuracy as is now ob tained with rifled ordnance and amuch longer range.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Pateut- 1. In combination with the barrel 7), thebreech-block 0, provided with a central port, 6', valve-seat h, andfunneled entrance '5, as and for the purpose substantially as described.

2. In combination with the projectile D, the elastic tail 7c and valvem, substantially as described. v

3. In combination with the projectile D, the elastic tail is, valve m,and end l for the attachment of the life-line, substantially asdescribed.

LEWIS W. SPENCER.

Witnesses W. G. Dorm, O. SEDGWIoK.

